Heart of a Warrior
by EnglishPoet18
Summary: ...They were clearly dealing with some very sick and twisted people. Who in their right mind ate human beings?... CARYL oneshot set at the beginning of season 5, end of season 4. I own nothing from The Walking Dead. Rated T.


**Well this little gem just blew at me out of nowhere and has completely dominated my night. I know there are lots of reunion fics and Terminus fics out there, but I felt compelled to write this one. I'm sure that someone somewhere will have something to say about it since I've been managing to piss a lot of people off on here just by merely breathing, but I hate to break it to you haters - I'm still here and if you're trying to scare me off, you're going to have to do a lot better than some high school insults. It only fuels my fire and I love that you are thinking about me so much. **

**Anyway, I'm in one of those rare moods so I'm going to post this and I hope you like it. If you don't, then that's okay too. :) Thanks for reading! **

_..._

_They were fucked._

And that was putting it mildly.

Daryl wasn't even sure any amount of wishing on their part was going to get them out of this boxcar. They were clearly dealing with some very sick and twisted people. Who in their right mind _ate_ human beings? His stomach lurched violently at the thought and he braced one hand against the wall as he fought off the urge to vomit.

The heat was sweltering inside of the tiny boxcar and they had no way to stay hydrated nor any weapons. They were sitting bait, caged and utterly defenseless. He felt a deep sorrow overwhelm him as he stared at his group, his family. After all that they had been through, had _overcome,_ and this was how they would die.

He thought of Merle and how much he missed his brother, the asshole. He smiled to himself as he imagined his brother there with them. He missed him...still thought about him frequently. Merle Dixon would always live on as long as Daryl was around to remember him. That was a fact. No matter what, his brother had died a hero and no one would convince Daryl any different.

His smile disappeared as he thought about who else was missing. _Carol._ He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but the odds were that she hadn't made it. He wanted to believe differently - to hold onto his hope that somewhere in the world she was still battling her way through it all. He had always admired her strength as well as her kind soul. He had never met a woman like her before and he was pretty positive that he never would.

When they had first met back at the quarry, he had drifted between feeling sorry for her and being mad that she had let that asshole Ed walk all over her. Try as he might to stay out of it, he found that he was just drawn in deeper. He couldn't figure out why she seemed to dominate his thoughts until one day it smacked him in the face.

He and Carol had very similar souls...two totally different people molded by similar circumstances. Coming from a childhood of abuse of both forms - emotional and physical, Daryl understood her predicament better than anyone. He knew what it was like to feel that pain and desperation. He knew it all too well.

Back at the farm when Sophia had been lost, it was Daryl who had ultimately stepped up. He hadn't been able to stomach that look of utter despair written across her face. Even though deep down he knew that the chances of finding that little girl alive had been slim, he still had tried his hardest for Sophia and for Carol. Because even though they were close in age, Daryl had already experienced everything that Carol had been going through and he felt the urge to guide her through it. He knew better than anyone how badly life could beat you down and she hadn't been emotionally equipped to deal with that yet.

And look at her now.

She had come so far from that woman at the quarry who had been afraid of her own shadow. She was strong and independent...completely immersing herself into the group as a warrior. A twinge of pride seared his very soul. And it wasn't just her either. Daryl knew that he had also grown stronger, especially without the shadow of his brother looming over him. For so long, Daryl had followed Merle and done everything his brother had wanted without question. Now without his brother around Daryl could finally feel free to be his own person. Strange how the end of the world could change a person for the better.

In a way he still held out hope that somewhere she was still out there. They had grown closer over the course of the last winter. He had found himself opening up to her in ways he had never imagined he would. She taught him that it was okay to talk about his feelings and so he finally had. He spilled everything to her on a cold Georgia night when the air was so crisp that just walking outside caused your cheeks to sting.

Daryl had never been more warm though. Carol had listened quietly, never rushing him or making him feel inadequate. In turn, she had shared her own hopes and fears from her past life and for the future. As the sun had come up the next morning they had agreed that everything said between them would go no farther. It would be a fresh start for them both and in so many ways it had.

There was a deeper connection between them, a mutual understanding that they would always be there for one another. From then on, she would tease him - never anything outrageous, but in such a way that he began to look forward to it. The stark realization that he was in love with her smacked him in the face like a bullet upon hearing Rick's confession that he had made her leave the group.

Daryl remembered everything about that day. He had been shocked, something that he hadn't thought possible for him anymore. His first instinct had been anger and he felt sure Rick still didn't know exactly how close Daryl had been from hitting him. He had even almost blurted out his love for her to Rick. He had been defensive - _how dare Rick claim to know Carol like that?_ No one knew Carol like he did. The cold, hard truth of her being gone had finally sunk in and with it the realization that his love for her had come too little, too late. The story of his life.

The others talking behind him pulled him from his thoughts and he tuned in a bit half-heartedly to their conversation. His spirit had suffered a great beating that even he wasn't sure he could bounce back from this time.

"You got a plan?" Abraham asked Rick.

Daryl sized up the man. At first glance he had dismissed the man as being too cocky, but upon further inspection Daryl was inclined to change his opinion. The man - Abraham, had stuck with Glenn when he had needed help and even helped some of the other members of his group. Daryl trusted Glenn, maybe even more so than Rick at this point and if Glenn said that Abraham and his little group were good people then Daryl was inclined to believe him.

Rick blew out a breath, the remnants of dried blood still clinging to him in certain areas giving him a wild caveman look. Daryl had seen this look before when Lori had died and Rick had gone on a walker killing spree. Rick was walking a very fine edge again and Daryl wasn't sure of his stability at this point. He still had unresolved issues with Rick, but understood that now was not the time or place to bring those up.

The sound of chaos breaking loose around them had them all holding their breath. The boxcar rocked gently and the sounds of gunfire and screams echoed throughout. Michonne met his eye and he saw the same look of confusion mixed with fear reflected upon her face. Daryl hated not being able to see what was going on. He felt completely handicapped without his bow or the ability to see his surroundings.

The quiet, but audible click of a lock sliding free had them all turning to stare at the door. Instinctively, they moved to stand in front of Carl. If nothing else, they had to protect him because kids were their only hope...they were the ones who would hopefully survive to repopulate this world.

Daryl was the first to press forward, his need to see overriding any fear that he might have left. No one had opened the door and he could still hear shouts coming from outside the car although they weren't as frequent or prominent.

"You think they've been overrun by a herd?" Rick finally spoke, breaking the thick silence.

Daryl glanced at him and shrugged, "Only one way to find out, right?" He tugged gently on the door, relieved when he was met with no resistance.

"We don't have any weapons," Glenn commented.

"So we find some," Daryl snapped. "We don't cower in here an' wait for someone to realize we're still alive. Christ."

"He's right," Rick spoke. "When he opens that door, grab anything you can for a weapon. Stick close together and we might have a chance. We're stronger as a unit."

"Why are we still standing here? Let's do this," Carl surged forward, his expression one of a kid way beyond his years. The kid was forced to be an adult way before his time, but he seemed to be adjusting well all things considering.

With no other objections Daryl took a deep breath and threw open the door. What he expected and what he saw were two different things. He had expected to see people running around, but he hadn't quite expected the chaos that he was confronted with. Behind him, he could hear the startled gasps for air that the other group members sucked in. However now was not the time for contemplation of what had occurred as several walkers ambled in their direction.

"Guys..." Glenn said worriedly.

"How are we going to kill them without a weapon?" Sasha whispered.

"Here," Maggie spoke, grabbing onto several two by fours lying nearby. She passed them out amongst the group. That still left several of them empty handed, but it was better than nothing Daryl assumed.

There were many bodies scattered about, some appearing to be inflicted with gunshot wounds while others had merely suffered the fate that many before them had suffered: to be eaten by a walker. Gun smoke hung heavy in the air and although Daryl could hear voices, they sounded far away. It looked like a miniature world war. It was like reliving the episode with the Governor all over again and he didn't relish it.

While the others began to make use of their boards, Daryl kept an eye on the bodies lying scattered around them. They moved together within a circle, taking down walkers as they went. Daryl knelt down next to a man's body and quickly ran his hands over the pockets. As luck would have it he managed to extract a pocket knife that seemed somewhat dull, but had a long enough blade that he didn't feel so vulnerable. More gunshots rang out as they continued forward and they were close enough that Daryl felt the spray from the bullets as they exploded around them.

"Get down!" Rick shouted.

Daryl moved silently, rolling underneath the smoke before he realized that the group had dispersed into different directions. Groaning silently in frustration, he slipped between two dumpsters and narrowly missed being hit.

"Shit!" He hissed as a bullet hit the side of the dumpster. It almost seemed as if they were shooting at him specifically. Tripping over a discarded box, Daryl scurried backwards as far as space would allow. He could hear yelling in the background and then another bullet whizzed past him, this time coming from somewhere behind him.

Daryl dropped to the ground and rolled, spotting a pair of boots as he did so. He narrowed his eyes and silently made his way behind the suspect, knife in hand. He came up behind them and slowly rose to his feet only to be faced with the sight of _his_ crossbow strapped to this person's back. Mouth agape, Daryl moved in to subdue, but at the last second the person turned.

Daryl was pretty sure that he had been shot in the gut and was hallucinating at the sight of Carol's blood covered face staring back at him. She blinked at him and then her lip curled in disgust. Daryl could only stare at her in confusion as her hand came up to hit him.

Only she didn't hit him. She shoved him.

Then she fired off two shots with her gun, taking down two people that Daryl hadn't even heard approach him from behind. The air around them grew silent as all gunshots seemed to cease. Carol took one last look around and then reached out to him with her hand. He could only stare at her blankly. She was _real_. She was _alive_.

"Ca-"

She shook her head, "No time. We've got to get to a safer place." She motioned with her hand again and blindly he took it, allowing her to lead him through the dust and smoke into what he assumed was a safe place.

She tugged him through a doorway and pushed it closed behind them, leaning her forehead against it with a sigh. He took the moment to study her now that he had the chance. Not much had changed physically. She was still small, but she didn't seem as delicate as she had before. She appeared to be uninjured even though she was covered head to toe in blood and guts. She looked almost like..._a walker._ He smiled widely as he realized exactly what she had done.

Then she let out a soft sob and his face fell.

Rushing to her side, he grabbed her arm gently and turned her around to face him. She wouldn't meet his eyes and he grew concerned, thinking that he might have missed some sort of fatal injury in his perusal mere moments before. He swept the length of her body with his hands, but found nothing more than a few scratches and some bruises.

"Hey," he whispered as he lifted her chin with one finger so that he could see her eyes. She finally lifted them to meet his, one lonely tear sliding freely down her cheek that splashed onto his finger. "You alright?"

She let out a strangled noise, a cross between a laugh and a sob that nearly gutted him. She grabbed onto his wrist with her hand and he couldn't remember ever having felt such relief at being touched. "You're alive," she said softly.

He nodded, "Thanks to you."

She pressed her lips together and her eyes drifted over him. Then she sighed and before he had a chance to think she had wrapped herself around his body, engulfing him into a hug that nearly squeezed the breath from his lungs. "I thought -" Her voice shook and she drew in a sharp breath. "I thought that you were dead," she admitted.

"Same here." His voice sounded rough to his own ears. He stared down at the crossbow strapped to her back. "How did you get this?" He wiggled it with his hand.

Carol pulled back and slipped it free of her back, passing it over to him with a smile. "I saw someone with it and I _knew_ that it was yours. I...I couldn't _not_ get it back."

"But you seen the bow, you musta known that I was alive."

She shook her head, "No, I didn't. I know how you feel about that bow. It's your baby and the fact that someone else had it only led me to believe that you had been killed. I knew that others were here...I saw them go in, but I never saw you. I must have missed you somehow."

"You knew there were others here?"

She nodded, "Tyreese and I, we've been circling the place, trying to get a feel for it. Seeing as how it was just the two of us and Judith, I came up with the plan to draw the walkers in. Because I'm smaller, I disguised myself as a walker and slipped through the gates with them, taking out unsuspecting civilians. Tyreese covered me from the outside," she explained.

Daryl stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and complete awe. "You unlocked the boxcar." It wasn't a question, but a statement that she confirmed with a nod of her head. "You saved our asses. You're a warrior Carol."

She blushed, the action not completely hidden by the blood. "Hardly," she replied. "I couldn't let you all die. I had to try and we're just damn lucky that it worked."

"You're brave," he said.

"Cowardly," she countered.

"Beautiful," he muttered.

She paused and tilted her head at him in thought. "Being away from the group...being away from _you_ was the hardest thing I've had to do in a long time. I missed you," she breathed.

Daryl's heart was pounding within his chest so hard that he thought it might burst forth through his skin. He slowly reached out to her and touched her cheek, her hair, and her hand...reassuring himself that she was real. It hardly seemed possible.

"The others?" She inquired.

"Alive," Daryl replied. "Except for Beth. Lost Beth." His gut clenched at the thought of the girl being out there somewhere, probably dead by now. Then he remembered something else that she didn't know. "And Hershel. The Governor..." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, but she understood all to well without him having to do so.

She blinked back tears that teetered on the edge of her eyelids, but didn't spill over. She had come so far from who she had been before, a shadow of herself to the woman who stood before him. The warrior that had captured his heart.

"We should go check on the others," She urged.

"Carol?"

She paused in the act of opening the door and turned back to him. "Yes?"

Here goes nothing. "In case somethin' happens again I just want you to know..." He swallowed roughly, the words sticking in his throat a little. She offered him a small smile of encouragement. "I just want you to know that I love you."

She inhaled sharply, her hand releasing the door so that it slammed shut with a thud. Taking the several steps it took to reach him, she gently placed her hand upon his chest. "Oh, Daryl," she said breathlessly. "I love you too."

He felt a big rush of relief at finally telling her how he truly felt. It was even better to know that she returned the sentiment and when the time was right then they could explore that feeling further. For now, they had others to attend to and one in particular that owed her an apology that he would see fit that she got.

Grabbing her hand, he held it tightly within his, "Thought I lost you out there."

She smiled softly, "Nine lives, remember?"

...


End file.
